Blood sugar levels in babies born of diabetic mothers

Abstract

Estimations of the blood sugar level during the first 24 hours of life were made on 21 normal infants and 40 infants born of diabetic mothers. Twenty-five of the latter 40 babies were given 50% glucose in the first eight hours of life. The normal infants showed a wide scatter of blood sugar levels but there was no dramatic rise or fall in the figures in any one case. The babies of diabetic mothers revealed a rapid drop in the first hours of life with a slow rise towards the end of the first 24 hours. There were considerable variations in the figures obtained. The administration of a 50% oral glucose solution did not make any appreciable difference to the blood sugar levels obtained compared with the group of infants to whom glucose was denied. The clinical picture of hypoglycemia in infancy is described and the fact that it is an uncommon finding is stressed. It is suggested that few, if any, babies born of diabetic mothers die as the result of hypoglycaemia.